The old man smiled without changing his expression, "So, a little girl has come to the temple."
"You talk too much." The girl glanced at the three of them, her gaze lingering on the two behind the old man. After a while, she smiled, squinting, "The other half of the money will be delivered to you the day after tomorrow."
"Thank you very much." The old man pushed the cart and headed to the back kitchen, familiar with the route.
Hu Li and the others didn't dare to waste time and quickly followed the old man.
After walking quite a distance, Hu Li whispered, "Senior, the girl just now is from Chongyue Tower. She arrived in Shangyu City just yesterday. Have you seen her before?"
The old man pushed open the door to the back kitchen, and the three of them carried the cart inside.
"I've seen her once," the old man recalled carefully. "It was in front of May Gan San Xu Blind's shop, but I can't remember which year it was."
"Does the clothing made by Senior Xu really contain the secret of the Liang Prince's underground palace?" Hu Li asked.
The old man seemed to hear a great joke. "Shangyu wouldn't commit suicide by spreading rumors and inviting people to desecrate their ancestors' graves."
"That person has been so bold. It seems he has already taken over Qinglong Temple. The note we received last night instructed us to go to Qinglong Temple. If it wasn't for the information released by this girl, we wouldn't have known to gather there." Hu Li no longer insisted on asking the old man and instead turned to Jiang Yu, continuing, "If that's the case, Shangyu City has already been surrounded by people from Chongyue Tower. What should we do?"
"What should we do?" the old man chuckled. Then he pushed the door and left.
Hu Li wanted to stop him, but the man disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Let him go, we..." Jiang Yu's words were cut off.
The half-open door of the small kitchen was smashed to pieces by a palm.
The two stepped back half a step, and the girl stood with her hands behind her back at the doorway. "Everyone is here. Where else do you want to go? Since you're here, come with us for a trip."
The path was blocked.
It was not difficult to guess Chongyue Tower's intentions.
Who exactly was the person from the Black Horse Escort this time? And what secrets were hidden in Qinglong Temple?
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"This girl, we've seen each other many times, but you haven't told us your name." Hu Li said.
The girl glanced at Hu Li and said after a moment, "Fang Yue."
"Fang Yue, where are we going now?" Hu Li asked.
"Just follow me," Fang Yue replied.
There was only Fang Yue, standing between the two of them. She didn't seem afraid of their tricks.
"You won't be able to fly out of Qinglong Temple even if you grew wings," Fang Yue seemed to understand what Hu Li was thinking and said softly. She chuckled and added, "The half of the map on you will come in handy later."
"Fang Yue, aren't you curious why we found Qinglong Temple?" Fang Yue frowned.
Hu Li said, "Last night we received a note with the words Qinglong Temple written on it."
"Fang Yue, do you know the young master Liu from the inn?" Jiang Yu ignored Fang Yue's question and picked up another one, implying something.
"Whether I know him or not, what difference does it make?" Fang Yue replied.
"That note was obtained from him," Jiang Yu said.
That was true.
But Jiang Yu deliberately spoke vaguely, so that people could easily fall into the trap.
There were cracks in Fang Yue's expression.
Hu Li silently watched Fang Yue's face.
In Chongyue Tower, there were many assassins. Assassins naturally excelled in killing, but when facing someone who was experienced in officialdom, their emotions would falter.
"Last night, in the bamboo forest next to the inn," Jiang Yu continued calmly, glancing leisurely at the sky and added, "The person who met us was a bodyguard."
Each event corresponded to a person, and Fang Yue finally realized that something was wrong.
"Where is the person? Do you have him?" Fang Yue asked Jiang Yu, pressing on.
Neither of them answered.
"If you won't say, it's fine. You are just in that inn. But do you think you can threaten me?" Fang Yue smirked, "Besides, can you keep him trapped?"
Beyond the main hall of Qinglong Temple, Fang Yue picked a narrow path. Hu Li brushed aside the leaves blocking his view, revealing a winding path that led to an open area.
This area was in the opposite direction from the one leading to Han Xiao's residence on the back mountain.
There was a low slope here, which seemed to be a natural cave. Guards stood on both sides of the cave entrance, bowing when Fang Yue approached.
They were Fang Yue's subordinates.
It turned out that it was not just Fang Yue and Scarface who came to Shangyu City, but also the one surnamed Liu.
The old man's words echoed in Hu Li's mind.
Fang Yue must have known about this place long ago, and who knew how many years she had been planning for this.
"Please, go ahead," Fang Yue stopped and made way for the two.
For now, Hu Li and Jiang Yu couldn't figure out Fang Yue's intentions. In this situation, they could only resort to tricks.
Fang Yue took the torch handed over by her subordinate and followed the two into the cave.
Upon entering the cave, Hu Li realized that it was not a natural cave but a man-made one. Initially, it seemed to lead deeper into the mountain, but halfway through, it became apparent that it was extending downwards.
They were moving underground.
The light from Fang Yue's torch flickered in front of Hu Li's eyes, "Don't look around."
Hu Li closed his eyes abruptly, the image of the torch accidentally revealing the patterns on the wall. There were small triangular symbols on the wall, and only Hu Li and Jiang Yu were probably the clearest about them. Those symbols were on half of the map they had seen before.
The Liang Prince's underground palace had always been just a legend, used to entertain children. But now, because of an inaccessible underground palace, waves were being stirred up in the martial arts world, and people who were not involved were losing their lives because of it.
Hu Li shook his head slightly, and the halo in front of his eyes disappeared, returning to darkness. He glanced at Jiang Yu, but Jiang Yu seemed not to have noticed and was slowly walking forward.
This could no longer be called a cave but rather a tunnel, one end connecting to Qinglong Temple and the other to an unknown location.
After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Hu Li could see some things in the tunnel. However, the triangular symbols on the wall were hidden in the darkness. But every five feet, there was a candle holder on the wall with a candle still half-burned.
Who left these candles?
There were only two possibilities.
The first was the old monks of Qinglong Temple.
The second was Fang Yue and her group.
Based on the previous situation, Fang Yue had already been in the cave. Her torch was just right, only illuminating the path under their feet, while the wall didn't catch any light.
Fang Yue deliberately didn't let them see the wall, so the candles on the wall were not lit.
The three of them remained silent, each with their own thoughts.
Hu Li didn't have the slightest intention of speaking. His mind was in turmoil. What did the old man who led them into the temple and then disappeared mean? Did the old man know about this place? But why did he walk ahead, and when the three of them reached the cave entrance, he was nowhere to be seen?
And where was the old monk of Qinglong Temple at the moment?